Embossing press



S@ph 3, 1935. A LEWIS zfill fififl EMBOSSING PRESS Filed March 17, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS Sept. 3, 1935. LEWls Z,U]l3,@

EMBOSSING PRESS Filed March 17, 1934 ZSheets-Sheec 2 i JNVENTOR W M w v Patented Sept. 3, 1935 UNITED smrs This invention relates to improvements in embossing presses of. the type disclosed in my U. S. Patent No. 1,725,461 and employed to a great extent fcrembossing advertising cards or i the like by punching characters from a paper and forcing them into a sheet of cardboard or other backing preferably of a. contrasting color.

An important object of the invention is to provide a press of this character'designed for more even distribution of the embossing pressure with consequent improvement in the quality of the embossingworh: and designed also for embossing a greater area satisfactorily'in a single operation of the press.

press;

. margins of their openings. I disposed'at a right angle to each other.

Other objects of :the invention will appear hereinafter.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a front view of the Fig. 2 an 2--2 of Fig. land of Fig. 3; y I I Fig. 3 a verticalsection on the line 3- 3 of Fig. 2; V

Fig. i a, horizontal section approximately on the line-4--4 of Fig. 2; and v r Fig; 5 a view similar to Fig. 2 and showing the press actuated to perform an embossing operation.

- The press structure includes a mainframe or body made up'of four castings including a hollow,

base casting l, ahollow top'casting 2 and a pair of hollow side castings 3 and 3 disposed between the ends of the castings l and 2 and supporting the casting '2. The castings are rigidly joined. by four bolts 4 passed through registering vertical 0 bores at the corners of the frame. At their.

upper ends the bolts have heads which bear against the upper facelof the top casting. Their lower ends project into the hollow :base and have nuts 5 screwed upon them. All of the castings are strong and rigid and the bolts secure them together to .form a rigid frame. 7

The side castings .3 and 33 of the frame are. opentoward the interior of the frame and have smooth vertical guide surfaces .6 and l atthe Said surfaces are A lower pressthead, or bed 58 is mounted to .slide vertically within the frame along said guide surfaces. The bedisa flat horizontally disposed plate or block preterably formed of hard .steeland its upper and'lower surfaces are flat andhorizontal. In the present instance the bed is elongated and substantially rectangular in plan but its; shape and proportions may be varied. v

To force the bed upward for embossing zor enlarged vertical section on the line in mesh with theg ear 2i].

printing there are two steel cam shafts 9. These shafts are duplicates. Each has two diametrie cally disposed, arcuate peripheral working faces I!) and l I. In the present: instance the working surface ii] is concentric with the shaft axis and the surface H is eccentric with relation to the axis. If desired, however, both working faces may be. eccentric. Between its working faces the cam has two parallel flat faces l2 and 13.

The eccentric cam face il rises slightly from its juncture With the flat face 12, All of said faces extend throughout most of the lengthof the cam shaft. The shaft has cylindrical end portions or journals I l.

The-cam shaftsextend between the side mam."- bers of the press frame and are disposed in positions materially spaced apart fore-andea ft of the press'and with their axes parallel and ina horizontal plane. At the opposite ends of the shafts there are two vertically disposed plates 45 apertured toreceive the endportions, M of the shafts to retain the shafts in properly spaced relation. Said plates have smooth vertical guide surfaces at. their oppositevertical edges disposed to engage the, guide surfaces 6 and 1. whereby the plates are supported and guided toslide Yer.- ticallyin the frame, r I Midway between the cam shafts there operatingv shaft I6 disposed With'it's axis parallel with the-axes of the. cam shafts and in'substan tiallyl the same plane The operating shaft is materially longer than the cam shafts and one of its ends projects outward-through a vertical slot I! in the frame sidesmemberS Anoperating handle J8 is fixedto said projecting end for r o; tating'the shaft. The shaft is journalled in hear-- ing apertures win the end-plates l5 and the 'end of the shaft opposite thatbearingthe ban-.-

dle projects into the interior of the hollow casting 3 of the frame andhas a drive gear 29 :keyed to it. Thegadjacent ends 14 .of the cam shafts also project into the interionof said castingand have gears 2 l of the same size keyed thereto and Thereby when the shaft [6 is rocked the duplicate cam shafts will lee-rocked in unison, in the same direction and I to thesame degree to raise and lowerthe press head or bed 8. I I

. The cams act upon flat thrust plates 2,21and 23 which are shiftable horizontally, foreand.- aftof, the press. Plate 22 overlies bothcamsand plate 23 underlies both cams. Bothplates are in constantcontact with the-peripheries of the cams. Two setsof steel'anti-friction rollers .24 are arranged over theupper thrust plate 22,,and

6 gins of the bed 8.

two sets of anti-friction rollers 24 are arranged beneath the lower thrust plate. The sets are spaced apart fore-and-aft of the press in positions directly over and directly under the cams. Preferably, as shown, steel bearing or track plates 25 are interposed between the lower rollers and the upper face of the base and between the upper rollers and the under face of the bed 8. The rollers extend transversely of the press and their opposite ends project beyond the side edges of the thrust plates and are confined in longitudinal slots in retainer bars 26 disposed close to the side edges of plates 22 and 23. Each bar has two slots each of which receives the ends of one set of the rollers. Each bar has also an inturned lug 21 to engage behind the outer transverse edge of the adjacent thrust plate.

A positive driving connection is preferably provided between each cam 9 and the thrust plates. In the present instance these connections are toothed gear connections and each comprises four rows of short teeth or bosses 28 on the thrust plates, extending fore-and-aft of the press and meshing with four circumferential rows of recesses or tooth sockets 29 formed in the periphcries of the cams. This positive driving connection ensures prompt and uniform movement of the thrust plates, provides for positively restoring the roller bearings to the same point after each press operation, and assists in preventing accidental displacement of the traveling elements of the lifting mechanism.

The press has work-supporting means including a flat rigid metal plate 30. Track means are provided to support said plate for sliding foreand-aft through the press, over the bed 8. Two straight, rigid bars 3| extend fore-and-aft through the press frame in parallel relation and in positions directly over the opposite side mar- Screws 32 secure said bars rigidly to the side castings 3 and 3 of the frame. Secured to the under side of said bars are rigid strips 33 which project laterally inward to form ledges for slidably supporting the plate 39. The

latter is supported on the ledges in a horizontal plane and preferably spaced slightly above the upper face of the bed when the bed is in its normal or lowermost position.

Interposed between the bed 8 and the under sides of the guide bars 3| are four coiled springs 34 whose lower ends are seated in sockets formed in the side margins of the bed. Said springs are normally under compression and they tend to press the bed constantly downward, the pressure being exerted adjacent each of the four corners of the bed. Therebythe bed and the parts therebeneath are kept under constant and even pressure to ensure prompt and easy action when the cams are rocked, and to prevent accidental relative displacement of the parts.

The under face of the press frame top member 2 is formed to provide a seat or track 35 for an adjustable upper press head member 36. Said track or seat is broad, flat and smooth and lies within a plane inclined slightly fore-and-aft of the press. The press head 36 is mounted to slide fore-and-aft on said seat. The press head is a rigid steel block rectangular in plan and of sufiicient size to overlie substantially the entire pressp the seat 35 and in contact with the latter. 75'

ing area of the bed 8. In fore-and-aft section it iswedge shape, having a flat, smooth, horizontal lower face and a flat, smooth upper face inclined to the same degree and in the same direction as To support the heads 36 the guide bars 3| are provided with pins 3'! spaced apart fore-and-aft of the press and entering grooves in the opposite side edges of the press head. These grooves incline in the same direction and to the same degree as the seat 35 and the upper surface of the press head. Thereby, the head is supported for slidable adjustment to slightly raise or lower its under face. Screw means are provided to accurately adjust the head in accordance with the thickness of the work to be operated on. Fixed to the rear of the top member 2 of the press, in a transversely centered position, there is a rearwardly projecting screw 38. A knurled nut 39 screwed on said screw has a swivel connection with a yoke 46 fixed to the rear edge of the head 35. Thereby, the head is adjustably shiftable fore-0r-aft by rotating the nut.

The working parts of the press between the base I and the bed 8 are concealed and protected by face plates 4! screw-fastened to the front and rear faces of the press frame.

In the use of the apparatus for embossing cards, the carriage plate 30 is drawn forward over its supports 33 to a convenient position for setting up the embossing type or dies thereon. If desired'the type may be placed on a set-up card supported by the plate and having markings to serve as guides in the setting up of the type. When the type have been set up with their active faces directed upward, a card with one or more sheets of colored paper thereon is next placed over the type with the paper interposed between the card and the type. Then the carriage is slid back along its guides to a proper position between the press heads 8 and 36, the latter having been properly adjusted in accordance with the thickness of the type, the card and the sheets. The operating handle I8 is then pulled forward and downward. Thereby the duplicate cams 8 are rocked in unison equally and in the same direction to elevate the bed 3.

When the bed rises it picks up the carriage plate or table 30, elevates the latter with its assembled type, card and paper sheets and causes the card to be pressed against the under face of the head 36 and the typeto be pressed into. the under face of the card to cut out the type characters from the paper sheets and force them into the cardboard in the usual manner of presses of this type. When a pressing operation is completed, the handle is swung back to normal position thereby rocking the cams in unison and equally to permit the bed 8 to lower until the thrust plates bear against the parallel flat faces of the cams. The springs 33, by their downward thrust, restore and hold the pressing parts in their normal positions, with the cam flats and the thrust plates in mutual contact.

When the cams 9 are rocked to elevate the bed 8, the axes and the journal portion It of the cams rise and the journal portions by their engagement with the end guide plates i5 raise the latter. Since the operating shaft i6 is journalied in said plates the shaft is also raised. Therefore the cam journals, the shaft 56, the gears 22) and 2| and the operating handle l8 are all raised bodily when the handle is swung forward. When the handle is swung back to normal position all of said parts are lowered, with the assistance of the springs 3 As the thrust plates 22 and 23 are shifted laterally to their normal positions they engage the lugs 21 on the roller-retaining bars 26 and ensure positive restoration of said bars and the rollers to normal position.

renraooo *In athe -pressing. opera'tion the widely spaced,

* duplica-te earns act in unison to support and ele- -tributed pressure will *be applied t tthe type by the "two cams ithreugh the bed *8. 'The employment of a pluralitykpf "spaced duplicate cams renders it possible to emboss over awide area without danger of tilting of the-bed *8 and con- *-s equent uneven embossing. -I h us the capacity of the press is increased without impairing the quality of the embossing work. When the press is properly adjusted and the operating handle is thrown to the proper degree, good, evenembossing work is obtainable tc :the full capacity of the pressing area by'a singlethrow of theoperating handle. l ;W-h atI claim is: i v

1. In a press including a downwardly facing platen and an opposed,*cooperating, vertically shiftable -'bed-beneafth the platen, a plurality of similar pressure-developing cam shafts similarly disposed' beneath the bed in horizontally spaced relation for rotation about horizontal parallel axes to thrust the bed upward, a reaction support for said cams therebeneath and engaging their peripheries, means to oscillate the cam shafts in unison to thrust the bed upward and i hold it true with relation to the platen when the cams are rocked in one direction and permit the bed to lower when thevcam shafts are rocked inthe reverse direction, and means supporting and guiding the cam shafts and said means for oscillating the shafts to permit rise and fall of the axes of the shafts and corresponding rise 7 and fall of said shaft-oscillating means bodily upon operation of the latter means and maintain said means in a definite operative relation to the axes of the cam shafts.

2. In a press including a downwardly facing platen and an opposed, co -operating, vertically shiftable bed beneath the platen, a'plurality of similar pressure developing cam shafts similarly disposed beneath the bed in horizontally spaced relation for rotation about horizontal parallel axes to thrust the bed upward; oppositely shiftable thrust plates located above and below the cam shafts and engaging the peripheries thereof; antifriction rollers between the upper plate and the bed; antifriction supporting rollers for and beneath the lower plate; a track supporting the latter rollers, each cam shaft having two oppositely disposed, parallel fiat faces normally engaging the thrust plates and con-- nected by two arcuate faces one of which is eccentric to the shaft axis, and the cams having opposite endjournals; endplates in which said journals have bearings; means to oscillate the cam shafts in unison for raising and lowering the bedand holding it true with relation to the platen on its upward thrust, said shaft-oscillating means comprising an operating shaft 'journalled in said end plates, a drive gear fixed to said operating shaft, follower gears fixed to the cam shafts and in mesh with said drive gear, and a handle fixed to the operating shaft to rock it; and means supporting and guiding said end plates for vertical shifting to permit rise and fall of the axes of the cam shafts and corresponding rise and fall of the shaft-oscillating means bodily as the cams are rocked thereby and maintain said means in a definite operative relation tothefaxes of the cam shafts.

=In a press including a downwardly facing platen and an opposed, co-operating, vertical-1y shif table bed-beneath theplaten, a plurality of similar pressure developing cam shafts similarly disposed beneath the *bedin horizontally spaced relation for rotation about horizontal parallel axes to thrust the bed upward; oppositelyshiftable thrust plates .located above and below the earn shafts and engaging theperipheries thereof; antifriction rollers between the upper plate and the "bed; antifriction supporting rollers for and beneath the lower plate; atracl; supporting. "the .maintain said means in a definite operative relation to the axes of the cam shafts.

4. In a press including a downwardly facing platen and an opposed, cooperating, vertically shiftable bed beneath the platen, a plurality of similar pressure-developing cam shafts similarly disposed beneath the bed in horizontally spaced relation for rotation about horizontal parallel axes to thrust the bed upward, a reaction support for said cams therebeneath and engaging their peripheries, means to oscillate the cam shafts in unison to thrust the bed upward and hold it true with relation to the platen when thecams are rocked in one direction and permit the bed to lower when the cam shafts: are rocked in the reverse direction, means supporting and guiding the cam shafts and said means for oscillating the shafts to permit rise and fall of the axes of the shafts and rise and fall of said shaftoscillating means upon operation of the latter means, and spring means to yieldably resist rise of the bed and assist in restoring the bed, the

shafts and the shaft-oscillating means to their lowermost positions.

5. In a press including a platen and a presser platemounted to shift toward and from the platen, a plurality of similar, rotatable pressure-developing 'cams disposed at the far side of said presser plate from the platen and spaced across said plate; a reaction support engaged by said cams at the side of the latter remote from said presser plate the cams being rotatable upon parallel axes while engaged with said reaction support to thrust the presser plate away from said support and toward the platen; operating means for oscillating the cams in unison for movement of the presser plate toward the platen true thereto and for movement of the plate away from the platen, and means supporting and guiding the cams and said operating means to permit correspondingmovement of the cam axes and said operating means bodily in unison toward and from the platen and to maintain the operating means in a definite operative relation to the cam axes as the cams are oscillated while in engage ment with the reaction support.

6. In a press including a platen and a presser plate mounted to shift toward and from the platen, a pair of similar rotatable pressure-developing cam shafts disposed parallel at the far side of said presser plate from the platen; a pair of reaction thrust plates at opposite sides of the cam shafts and each engaging the peripheries of both shafts, said thrust plates being oppositely shiftable edgewise in opposite directions by oscillation of the cam shafts; positive traction connections between both cam shafts and both thrust plates to prevent slippage; antifriction rollers forming a thrust connection between one of said thrust plates and the presser plate; a reaction support opposite the other thrust plate; antifriction rollers forming a thrust connection between the latter thrust plate and the said reaction sup port, the cam shafts having opposite end journals; end plates in which said journals having bearings; means to oscillate the cam shafts in unison for movement of the presser plate toward and from the platen and comprising an operating shaft journalled in said end plates and disposed between said thrust plates and between the cam shafts, a driving gear fixed to said operating shaft, follower gears fixed to the cam shafts and in mesh with said drive gear; and means supporting and guiding said end plates for shifting toward and from the platen to permit floating movement of the cam shaft axes and the operatsaid shaft in a definite operative relation to the cam shaft axes.

7. In a press including a platen and a presser plate mounted to shift toward and from the platen, a pair of similar, rotatably mounted pressure-developing cam shafts disposed parallel at the far side of said presser plate from the platen; a pair of reaction thrust plates at opposite sides of the cam shafts and each engaging the peripheries of both shafts, said thrust plates being ppositely shiftable edgewise in opposite directions by oscillation of the cam shafts; antifriction rollers forming a thrust connection between one of said thrust plates and the presser plate; a reaction support opposite the other thrust plate; antifriction rollers forming a thrust connection between the latter thrust plate and the said reaction support, and means to oscillate the cam shafts in unison for movement of the presser plate toward and from the platen and comprising a rotatable operating shaft disposed between said thrust plates and between the cam shafts and operatively connected to both cam shafts.

ALVIN LEWIS. 

